Today I want to show you how to satin stitch to a sharp point. Sometimes, on your embroidery designs that you’re working, you might find an small element (like a leaf or a petal or a bird beak) that requires a sharp point. You satin stitch the element, following the “stitch-just-over-the-outline rule” that seems to govern satin stitching, and …. you end up with a slightly rounded tip to your leaf, or at least it isn’t as pointed as you thought it should be.

The two things that will ensure a pointy point on a satin stitched element are the length of the first center stitch and the angle of all subsequent stitches.

Let me show you what I mean:

Yesterday, we looked at one method of working daisy stitch in two colors, with petals in one color and anchor stitches at the tip of the petals in a different color. Today, let’s look at a different method of achieving the same result – and a much easier method, to boot!

It was one of those e-mails: “Can you look at this and tell me how it was done?” It was a picture of a daisy embroidered in detached chain stitch (lazy daisy stitch), only there was a difference – the anchor stitches on all the petals were worked in a different color from the petals. It was really cute!

Last year, when the Royal School of Needlework began producing a series called “Essential Stitch Guides,” I was pretty excited! The first two books in the series, the RSN Essential Stitch Guide for Blackwork and the RSN Essential Stitch Guide for Crewelwork, I’ve already reviewed. I like them both.

The RSN Stitch Guide for Silk Shading is going to be a little more difficult to review. After reading the book cover-to-cover, I have to admit that I wasn’t in raptures over it. That’s not to say it doesn’t have some good points and some good content. I’ll give you a synopsis and touch on some pros and cons, from my point of view. Then you can decide whether or not you’ll add it to your library.

Reader Charlotte Halley sent a photo of her embroidered version of the Hungarian Flower Pot hand embroidery pattern, and with her permission, I thought I’d share it with you!